The difference between a hate crime and a hate incident is sure to be key when this case moves to court. The hate portion of the incident must be the primary reason for the crime to be considered a hate crime.

For example, if Partida was truly attacked because he is gay, it's a hate crime. If he was attacked for another reason and then called a gay slur, it's a hate incident.

Another example is if a white driver and a black driver get into an accident. If the white man assaults the black man because of the accident, and then calls him a racial slur, it would be considered a hate incident.